"Jeez, why did it have to rain today?" A fair-skinned girl with light brown hair called Anna, sighed, obviously depressed by the weather conditions. it had been an exhausting school day for her, and the brewing storm that ravaged the curvy, craggy road made her spirit fall further down.
It was supposed to be a fine spring day, but the weather conditions did not indicate that.
"Well, Anna, it's the monsoon season." A boy with light brown skin and black hair seated beside her said, patting her on the head.
These two were among the few students who live on the outskirts of the city. They like the others on the bus were nothing special. They were just your average students with rich families living on the outskirts of the city.
"Do you know when it will end Gray?" Anna asked, as she leaned towards the window.
"The eye of the storm already passed us so, maybe, tomorrow" Gray calmly said as he nodded his head.
Gray was actually guessing. He didn't study that much about meteorology, but he found it useful from time to time in a country that's likely to experience monsoons. Now that the eye of the storm has passed, the weather intensified with more heavy rain and thunderstorms.
"Though I think it would be better if they cancelled class then to let us go home in a storm" He said. Turning to a boy wearing a blue hooded jacket over his school uniform covering his face in the back corner of the bus, he asked "what do you think, Ash?
Ash didn't answer.
"look out!" A student shouted, followed by a loud honk that sounded through the road.
The driver, who started to doze off, was alerted by it as he detected the oncoming bus that headed towards them.
"What the?!," he exclaimed.
With little time to react, he veered toward the side of the road to avoid the hazard.
Ash noticed something odd about the bus that almost rammed the bus they are on.
The bus that passed by didn't have a driver and didn't have any other passengers aboard, except for three people.
"That's strange" He muttered to himself
"What's strange?"
Ash broke his silence as he said, "There was no one on that bus."
"What?" Everyone shouted.
Everyone was surprised to hear what Ash said. There was no way that can be true, though they thought Ash was just trying to scare them.
"No, he must be joking." A student said as he laughed.
"Come on who could have drove the bus?" one student said, as another added "Maybe you need glasses?"
The other students didn't know if he was just joking or being serious. Ash always stayed in the sidelines. Nobody knows why. He has friends, but he rarely spends time with them. Instead he spends most of his time as a loner, but there were often where times he joined the group and shared a laugh or two with them.
Ash didn't bother to go any further, but he was sure of what he saw. The bus had no one on board except for three passengers. He could not tell exactly what happened himself as the bus moved too fast but the color of what the three figures wore was what caught his eye.
"Purple, blue, and red."
"Everybody hold on to something!" The bus driver shouted as the bus swerved uncontrollably. He managed to stabilize the bus as it headed towards the rails even though he avoided crashing into the oncoming bus, but he swerved the bus so hard that he could no longer keep it stable on the curvy, slippery road. The bus swerved to the edge of the road hitting the rails, as the rails break and the bus falls off the cliff down the rocky slope. The sound of metal and rock clashing and beating riddles the mountain side as the bus tumbles and lands at the base of the mountain on the side of its hull.
The bus' wreckage rested at base of the mountain near a forest that expands over a wide range of land with no city in sight. Inside the broken bus the students lay hurt and confused. Some students had cuts and bruises all over while some students were unconscious, Gray slowly opened his eyes. The sensation of pain welcomed him as he struggled to crawl and stand back up.
"Gu!-haaa-haaa-"
Gray almost fell down as he struggled to get up, his vision was blurry but it gradually came back to him.
"Ugh! Is everyone ok?" Gray asked after getting his bearings hoping nobody is hurt. The bus wreckage nestled at the base of the mountain the hull of the old bus was destroyed, damp and moist from the heavy rain. Gray tried to check and see if the others are ok and saw a fair skinned girl with light brown hair lying on the floor. It was Anna.
"Hey! You ok?" Gray said, rushing to her side.
"Gray? …Ugh…my head!" She said weakly, as she slowly opened her eyes.
She is alive, but hurt. She hit her head hard on one the seats when the bus rolled down the mountain.
"It's not so bad, Anna. Come on, we have to help everyone and get out of here." Gray said, as he helped her get back up, assuming she's ok. She was dizzy and lost her balance, but she held out, as the two managed to wake the others including the driver. Most of them received minor injuries but a few were mortally wounded.
The rain was starting to pour down as they hurried to get out of the bus. They carried with them their school bags, picked up their foldable umbrellas and made their way out of the bus towards the forest.
"The rain is still pouring."
"What are we going to do?" one of the students asked.
"I'm not...feeling...wel-" Anna said weakly as she fell unconscious
Gray and the others immediately picked her up and tried to carry her.
"Let me take a look at her." One of the students with brown skin and black hair named Layla said, as she stepped forward to check up on Anna shaking her shoulders hoping to get a response. Anna gave a weak moan in response.
"She's okay, but we need to find a place to keep her stable and treat the others." Layla assured them, placing one hand on Anna's forehead and raising her chin.
The others felt a chill as they walk further into the forest. The cold wind was unforgiving as it continued to howl at them. The ground was not a good place to walk on as the muddy ground started to catch them off balance and fall. Their chances of survival were getting thin.
"We have no choice now; we have to look for shelter" Michael one of the students wearing thick spectacles Said, as he stepped forward to lead the group of students.
"We're really going through the forest?" A spiky haired student named Arthur said.
"We cant stay here! come on!" Michael said in response.
They didn't know how long they were out. The sun was setting and soon, there will be no way for them to look for a place to stay. They no option except to traverse deeper into the unexplored forest hoping to find a place to stay.
"Yeah, let's go." they all said in unison.
The group made their way deep into the forest, cold, scared, and tired.
The driver remained silent during the entire trek. Gray noticed this and walked up to him.
"You okay?" He said, placing his hand on the driver's shoulders as he tried to comfort him.
"...Yeah...sorry, I've endangered you all..."
The words held a bitter feeling of regret as he said them.
"It's ok, it wasn't your fault"
The driver was clearly blaming himself for what had happened. If he had just paid more attention to the road while driving this wouldn't have happened he thought.
"This is my fault. I should've paid attention…"
Even though Gray tried to comfort him, the old man's self depreciation was too much.
An awkward silence came as they continued aimlessly walking deep in the forest.
"By the way, where is that silent kid?"
The driver finally spoke after looking at the group and noticed that someone was missing. The student sitting at the back corner of the bus was gone.
Gray gasped when he realized that Ash was not with them.
The group stopped and looked around to find that Ash was indeed missing.
"You guys go ahead. I need to go get Ash!" Gray said as he tried to run back towards the bus.
"You can't! He was not there" Michael said, grabbing Gray's arm.
"What? I have to be sure Michael!"
"He was not there. Even if he was he would be dead!" Arthur smugly said.
The distance from the bus wreckage was already far off. Even though they travelled in just a single direction, the trek back would be dangerous considering how dark it has gotten. Gray couldn't tell if Michael was lying or really telling the truth. All of them rushed out of the bus as soon as the rain started pouring down, carrying the four, mortally wounded classmates with them. Michael knew it would be hard to leave a fellow classmate behind, but if any of them were to leave the group, chances are the one who left would be lost forever in the forest. Michael couldn't let Gray endanger his life.
"Gray, I'm sorry, but we have to move." Michael said as he placed his hand on Gray's shoulder.
Gray gritted his teeth in anger and disappointment. But then a voice familiar raspy voice was heard.
"HEY!"
Someone called out from a distance, somewhere in the forest.
Gray's eyes widened as he heard the voice from afar.
"Ash!?"
Everyone was in disbelief, the one in front of them was none other than Ash.
But how? Did he went ahead of the group? They thought.
"Come on I found a cave!" Ash shouted.
To Gray and the group's surprise Ash is alive, and found shelter, the others were never familiar with Ash's voice because of how he never talk as much but they had no time to ask for questions, yet the rain was pouring harder they had to look for shelter.
Ash leaded them to a cave somewhere in the forest. It was nothing out of the ordinary but it had a small bonfire located at the entrance of the cave.
"Here we can be safe for the night" Ash casually said, as he sat down near the bonfire.
"for the night?" one of the girls named Riza said, frustrated and tired.
"We have no choice" Micheal said as he tried to calm her down.
"We can't just spend the night here!"
"We can't even call for help, there's no signal here"
Away from the grid in the inner parts of the forest, there was no way they could call/text for help.
Every one of them then set up their stuff in the cave, trying to organize what little they have near the bonfire and trying to calm themselves down after the accident. Anna was able to recover after an hour or so, much to their relief.
Looking out from the cave's entrance Gray sat next to Ash who was sitting all by himself again, almost as if he was avoiding them.
What's up with him? Gray thought, wanting to know what's wrong with him he spoke.
"Ash, how did you find this cave? Were you not on the bus when we woke the others up?" He asked.
"...I -" Ash was hesitant to answer.
"Guys, she needs help!" One of the students wearing thick spectacled glasses named Anders cried.
The conversation was interrupted by Ander's cry for help while tending to the wound of another student.
"whats wrong?" They asked.
"It's Lisa." Anders said, pointing to the girl lying on her back shivering, bleeding from her abdomen. "Her wounds are severe i can barely stop the bleeding." Her wound came from a broken glass shard that pierced her stomach.
"I'll close the wound." Layla said as she turned to Michael. "Hand me my first aid kit," she ordered and he complied.
With her first aid experience, she managed to close the wound, but it wasn't enough to heal her.
"There," Layla said as she finished closing the wound. "That should stop the bleeding for now, but she needs intensive medical care."
"We can't go anywhere unless the rain slows down" Gray said, as he sat back down
"It doesn't look like it will stop anytime soon." Ash added.
There was no way they could go out in the rain into the dark forest. The chances of getting lost were extremely high; they had no choice but to wait it out as they tried to get some rest.
Moments pass as the group spend the night hoping for the rain to slow down. They slept on makeshift pillows with their bags hoping that tomorrow the rain will stop.
Hours pass, as the rain gets stronger and louder. The group struggled to sleep. The driver could not sleep either, and chose to stand guard near the entrance of the cave while the rest of the students rest. He sat there for hours until…
"I'm going out to look for help, just hold on" he said as he takes one of the student's umbrella and ran.
"wait! stop!" one of the students called out him out but to no avail, as if the man was possessed the driver quickly took the umbrella of one of the students and ran off into the dark forest.
"What was up with him?" One the students named Jack said.
"Who knows? With luck he might find someone who could help" Another student named Peter casually said, laying his head down on top of his bag.
"Well, we better find some food. That way we don't have to worry about going hungry tomorrow." Michael suggested.
"…There has to be something at the other end of this cave. Maybe we sho-" Ash said as walked up to them.
"-No, its better if we just stay here and wait it out" Arthur quickly retorted.
"Actually Ash is right, we cant do anything if we just stay here" Gray said, seeing that it is pointless to simply wait for the rain to stop.
"Alright, hopefully we can find some medicinal herbs" Layla said, getting up bringing her bag with her "But a few should stay behind and tend to the wounded" she added.
"Ok, Michael and I will stay behind and watch over the others." Anders said.
The group separated into two. As fourteen students consisting of Anna, Gray, Layla, Riza, Arthur, Santos, Ash, Peter, Jack, three girls and two boys travel deep into the cave leaving the remaining two Michael and Anders to take care of Lisa and those with severe wounds.
They travel deep into the cave as the image of the two who chose to be left behind fade into the darkness. The cave seemed just like any ordinary cave however it seems as though it stretches for miles away as even with a flashlight there seemed to be no end to it.
Moments pass as they move deeper into the cave, the temperature changed to where it was no longer cold. And it seems as though the rain has stopped as they could no longer hear it pounding from the outside.
Arthur shouted "How far is this cave?!"
"Don't know but isn't it getting warmer?" Riza said.
"Look, a way out!"
Ash points out forward revealing a way out an exit. The group rushed outside but to their surprise they see another forest. It's as though the tunnel lead them deeper into the forest but there was no rain and there's sign of there being any rain as the dirt and grass was dry.
"Where are we?" Anna asked.
"Where do you think? This is just the other side of the mountain!" Peter said.
"Calm down. Look over there. Smoke! There must be people down that way, maybe we can ask for help" Layla said pointing towards the smoke rising most likely it was from a house or a camp.
"Let's go"
The group heads towards where the smoke is coming from, but something felt weird for the group as they felt as though they were being watched.
"Is something out there?" Riza said, frantically looking left and right.
"Something is not right here…" Anna said, as she felt a chill creep up her spine.
The students stop as their entire surrounding became pitch black. They tried to stick together held each other's arm or bags afraid that they would lose each other if they don't.
"What was that?!"
The sound of a bush rustling and twigs breaking could be heard from the darkness.
"I don't know it's completely dark!"
They could see nothing. They felt as though they were blind. A chill creeps up there spine giving them goosebumps as they sensed something approaching them.
"Look there!" Jack shouted
"What's that?"
The group spots something in front of them. The moon's light unveiled the figure from the darkness. Like a scene from a play, it revealed kidlike figure. A girl with short blond hair, black and white clothes, with red eyes and a red bow clipped on her hair.
"Hi! Are you people lost?" She said, her arms spread out wide and smiling. Her red eyes stared at them intently like a child meeting a friend from a faraway place
The group felt relieved they thought it was some kind of feral animal about to make mince meat out of them, it was only a little girl they thought
"Umm yeah. We are kinda lost. Are your parents around? We could use some help" Gray asked.
It seemed odd for them, to find a little girl out in the woods late at night. He could only think of looking for help right now. The girl did look strange to them. They knew that their country is a tropical paradise where tourists occasionally come to visit, but they didn't know a foreigner would live deep in the country's forest far away from the tourist hotspots.
"Is that soo~. Hmm that's too bad oh, you're not from the village?"
The little girl asks again another question. But this time with more vigor moving closer avoiding the question that was asked of her.
"No we're not from the village. My name is Gray and these are my friends we are also kinda hungry. What's your name?" Gray answered once more, this time introducing himself to her trying to act nice. He thought that it wouldn't be a good idea to scare the girl seeing as her parents might be close by and would not help them if they do anything to hurt their daughter.
"My name is Rumia hahah! You are hungry too haha" She said with a happy smile, looking at the ragged students injured from the accident.
It may seem insulting though, like a rich person looking down on a beggar. The little girl laughed at them but it was ok. She is still a child.
"So you're really not from the village?" She asked again.
Gray started to realize something. It's weird to see a little girl wander around in the forest. He thought. Even if they lived in the rural areas of their country, kids would normally just stay at home during the night, watching television or playing inside until its bedtime.
As Gray slowly stepped back, Arthur suddenly stepped forward and said "No we are not ok! Do we look okay to you?"
"Arthur!" Gray shouted, but Arthur didn't care and ignored him
"We are lost, hungry and tired."
Arthur was clearly frustrated. He was always the one who kept having things go his way. Now things have took a turn for the worse for him. He eventually became impatient and spoke out demanding help from the girl who keeps asking the same question to them.
"Is that soo~..." She responded immediately, but she did not seem scared or angry as if she did not care for what Arthur said. Then for a moment the little girl did not respond as if thinking to herself finally turns looking at them with a smile.
"Good. " She said happily. Her eyes now glowed with a sinister red glare.
"...Its dinner time~"
